George w



(No Model.)

G. W. MILLARD & J. H. CLARKE.

MEANS FOR REGULATING PBNDULUM CLOCKS FROM A DISTANGE. N0 153K417.Patented Mar. 9;, 1886.

.QQQLgElLJYlLUngd M,

A Hm- N PETERS. Phow-Lflhogmplver. Washingwn. DIG.

Uriiren STATES PATENT Orrics.

GEORGE W. MILLARD AND JOSEPH H. CLARKE, OF PROVIDENCE, R. I.', ASSIGNORSTO THE SYNOHRONOUS TIME COMPANY OF PORTLAND, ME.

MEANS i-GR REGULATING PENDULUM-CLOCKS FROM A DISTANCE.

SFECIFECATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,417, dated March 9,1888.

Application filed December 5, 1884.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. .MILLARD and J OSEPH H. CLARKE, both ofthe city and county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, havejointly invented anew and useful Improvement in RegulatingPendulum-Clocks from a Distance; and we hereby declare the followingspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,forming a to part of the same, to be a description thereof.

This invention relates to regulating from a distance that variety ofpendulum-clocks having a block which forks the pendulum-spring, and isarranged to be raised and lowered there on by means of a screw, tochange the center of oscillation of the pendulum by increasing ordiminishing its vibrating length; and the invention consists in theemploymentof means, as herein alter described, whereby the position ofsaid regulating-block upon the pendulumspring can be changed from adistance,aud the regulation of a clock be thereby effected. In theregulation of such a clock or a series of such clocks from a distantplace we design and prefer to employ an electric current and amaster-clock, which shall automatically apply such current and governthe regulation of such clock or clocks, although the regulation may besecured by hand at such distant place,

if desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in elevation atmaster-clock and a secondary clock, which it is desired shall keep thesame time. Fig. 2 represents, on an en- 5 larged scale, a front View ofa portion of the pendulum of the secondary clock, the regulating-block,and thescrew and wheel for moving said block. Fig. 8 shows a side viewof the upper portion of the pendulum and the 0 regulating mechanismconnected therewith. Fig. etrepresents a top view of the same. Fig. 5shows means located in the secondary clock for closing an electriccircuit. Fig. 6 represents a horizontal section of the master-clockpendulum, anda top view ofan electro-magnet whose armature is providedwith two springs adapted to be moved into the path ofsaid pendulum. Fig.7 shows a face view of disks to be applied to certain arbors of themaster- Seria1No.149,552. (No model.)

clock, and springs, to operate in conjunction 5o therewith, to close anelectric circuit. Fig. 8 shows a chord of an arcin which the pendulum ofthe secondary clock moves.

A is the pendulum of the secondary clock or clock to be regulated, whichis suspended 5 by one or more springs, a, upon a plate, B, in the usualmanner.

0 is a block, which forks said spring or springs a, so as to slide uponthe same, and thereby govern the vibrating length of the pendulum, thesaid block being prevented from oscillating by cheek-pieces b b,attached to the plate B, or by other suitable means.

D is a screw, which is threaded into the block O, and passes upwardlythrough the 6 plate B, and dis a wheel secured to the upper end of saidscrew, and having teeth (1, in the form of pins, which project upwardlyfrom the face of the wheel. By turning the wheel (2 to the right or tothe left the block O is raised or lowered upon the pendulum-springs, aswill be readily understood.

E E are two eleetro-magnets secured to the clock-case or otherconvenient support, the armatures c e of which are connected by a bar,E. This bar is mounted to rock upon a shaft, 6 and is held normally inthe position shown in Fig. 4: by a spring, F, which is secured upon afixed screw, f, by nutsor other suitable means. The bar E has twopawls,G G, pivoted thereto, which are provided with plates 9 g, eachhaving an inclined plane thereon, and. are preferably normally heldagainst stop-pins or rests h h by springs H H.

It wiil readily be seen that when the armature e is made to approach themagnet E the in clined plane on the plate 9 of the pawl Gwill engage thepin it and force said pawl into en gagement with a tooth, d, of the whee(2, there by turning said wheel as the pawl is moved, 0 and that themovement of the armature e to ward its magnet will cause the pawl G toengage a tooth, d, of the wheel (if, and turn it in an oppositedirection, thereby changing the vertical position of the block O on thependu- 5 lum-springs a, and affecting the rate of movement of thependulum A. Theouter port-ions of the pawls G G,beyond the plates 9 g,are

, movement of these pins are respectively springs, so that the saidpawls will notdisturb the position of the wheel 61 when they return totheir normal positions.

Secured to the scape-wheel arbor of the secondary clock is a disk, J,which bears two pins,jj, asshown in Fig. 5. In the path of the pathofmovement of the armature-bar 0 of a magnet, O, (the said bar and springsbeing normally held out of engagement by the spring 0,) and the magnet Ois connected electrically with the master-clock by wires 0 0 Themaster-clock is provided with a magnet, P, Fig. 6, the armature-bar P ofwhich is-furnished with two springs, p p, insulated from each other, andsaid springs are connected to the wires 0 0 a battery, 0", being locatedin the line thus formed. The springs p p are arranged in proximity tothe masterclock pendulum Q, and are normally held'out of the path ofmovement of said pendulum by the usual spring, pflwhich holds thearmaturebar P in its rearward position, one of the said springs, as 10,being provided witha hooked end, as shown in Fig. 6, to permit freepassage of the pendulum-rod when in engagement.

which is shown in Fig. 7.

It is designed that an electric current shall be automatically appliedby the master-clock to the magnet P once in about ten minutes, and forone second. A variety of means may be employed for accomplishing this,one of A disk, R, is attached to the scape-wheel arbor r of themaster-clock, and is provided with a pin, R; and

i in the path of movement of said pin are two springs, S S, inengagement with which the pin R is intended to remain one second. Thatarbor t of the master clock which revolves once in about ten minutes,and bears a wheel meshing with the pinion on the scape-wheel arbor r, isfurnished with a disk, T, having a pin, T, and in the path of movementof said pin are two springs, U U, in engagement with which the pin T isintended to remain, say, five seconds, the contact between the pin T andsprings U U being effected, say, two seconds before the pin R on thedisk R engages the springs S S. The springs S and U are connected witheach other by a wire, s, and the springs S U are connected by wires ssto the coils of the magnet P, a battery, S, being located in thecircuit, as shown in Fig. 6.

It is intended that the electric circuit through the battery S andmagnet P shall be closed by the engagement of the pin R with the springsS S, so as to bring the springs p into the path of movement of themasterclock pendulum Q when said pendulum, is leaving that point in itsarc of movement indicated by the point a on the chord 2 2, Fig. 6,. andis swinging toward the point o. time-distance on said chord between thepoints '0 u, a w, w w, and my is one-fourth of a second. As theengagement of the pin R and springs S S is for one second, the springsp1; will be found in the path of movement of the pendulum Q when itreturns to the point a from the point a and is swinging in the directionof.

the arrow toward w. The pendulum Q has upon it a mctalplate, g, which,when the pendulum reaches the'point u in the move ment toward to, willengage the springs 10 19, bring them in contact with each other, andthereby close the electric circuit for an instant through the battery 0and the magnet O .of-

the secondary clock, Fig. 5, thereby bringing The the bar 0 of saidmagnet into engagement with the springs M M. The pin j on the disk J,Fig. 5, comes in contact with the springs KK when the pendulum A of thesecondary clock is at that point in its arc of movement, indicated by xon the chord 3 3, Fig. 8, and is swinging toward the point y, and saidpin and springs remain in contact one second. A point, 7' on the disk Jcomes opposite the points ofthe springsKK L L when the pendulum A is atthe point a, and is swinging toward 'u, and remains there one second.The pin j comes in contact with the springs L L when the pendulum A isat the point as and is swinging toward the point y, and said pin,

andsprings remain in contact one second.

As hereinbefore explained, the electric circuit is closed through thebattery 0 and mag net 0 when the master-clock pendulum Q is in theposition shown in Fig. 6 and is swinging toward w on thechord 2 2. Ifthe pendulum A of the secondary clock be swinging synchronously withthat of the master-clock, it will-be at the point a on the chord 3 3,Fig. 8, and be swinging in the direction of the arrow, and the point jhalf-way between the pins jj on the disk J, Fig. 5, will be opposite thepoints of the springs K-K L L, the said pointj having come to suchposition onehalf second before the pendulum A reaches the position shownin Fig. 8 At such time the pin j will have passed out of engagement withthe springs K K, and the pin j will not have yet engaged the springsL L.Therefore no electric circuit will be closed through the battery N andmagnet E or E to bring the pawls G or G into engagement with the wheeld, and the regulating-block 0, Figs. 2 and 3, will remain unchanged inits position. Before the pendulum Q of the master-clock again returns tothe point a the pin R will have passed out of engagementwith thespringsS S, and the springsp 19 will have been re tracted out of the path ofmovement of said pendulum by the rearward movement of the armature-barP, and'the" circuit through the battery 8* and magnet P will not beclosed again for ten minutes that is, until the pin T again engages thesprings U U.

When the pendulum A gets a trifle more than a half-second slew of themaster-clock pendulum, the piuj will be in contact with the springs K K,when the circuit through the battery 0 and magnet O is closed by theengagement of the master-clock pendulum with the springs pp, Fig. 6, andthe engagement of the bar 0 of the magnet O with the springs M M, Fig.5, will close the cir- .Cuit from the battery N through the magnet E,and cause the pawl G to engage and turn the wheel (Z, and lower theblock 0 on the springs a of the pendulum A, thereby decreasing itsvibratory length and causing it to take a faster rate.

hen the pendulum A gets a trifle more than ahalfsecond fast of themaster clock pendulum, the pin j will be in contact with the springs L Lwhen the circuit through the battery 0 and magnet O is closed by theengagement of the master-clock pendulum with the springspp', and theengagement of the bar 0 of said magnet with the springs M M will closethe circuit from the battery N through the magnet E, and cause the pawlG to engage and turn the wheel (I, and raise the block 0, therebyincreasing the vibrating length of the pendulum and causing it to take aslower rate.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that, by the meansemployed, the secondary clock will be kept within a fraction of a secondof the master-clock at all times.

If a series of clocks are to be regulated, each is provided with themechanism shown in Figs. land 5, and all the magnets O of such mechanismare connected in a series, so that a current from the battery 0 willwork them all.

Although we prefer to secure the armatures of the magnets E E to asingle bar, E Figs. 3 and at, mounted to rock as described, yet the saidarmatures may be mounted on separate bars, one for each magnet, in theusual manner, and a pawl, G, be connected to one of said bars, and apawl,G, to the other, so as to engage the wheel (I, as will be readilyunderstood. If desired, the teeth of the wheel (I may be placed upon theperiphery of the se me, so as to be engaged by properly-shaped pawls ofany preferred construction.

Although we prefer to employ a masterelock provided with means,substantially as described, for automatically applying an electriccurrent to the magnet 0, yet an ordinary telegraph-key placed in theline0 0 may be used for such purpose, if desired; also, in place ofemploying an electric current to move the bar 0 into engagement with thesprings M M, pneumatic n1eans,automatically worked by the master-clock,or by hand, or mechanical means, may be used to move the bar 0 into suchengagement, as will be readily understood.

As shown the drawings, the line between the master and secondary clocks,composedof the wires 0 0 is a metallic circuit; but the wire 0 may begrounded at the master-clock and at the secondary clock, and the earthbe allowed to complete the electric circuit through the wire 0 as aline.

The mechanisms shown and described for closing the electric circuit fromthe batteryN through the magnets E E, and from the battery 8* throughthe magnet P, may be greatly varied, as will be readily understood byelectricians as, for instance, the springs K L, Fig. 5, may be omitted,and the disk Jbe electrically connected by the wire Z to the spring M.The spring M may be omitted and the battery N be connected by the wire7r? to thearmaturebar 0, and, if the spring M be omitted, and thebattery N be connected to the bar 0, then the springs K L M may beomitted, and said bar (or a spring thereon) be arranged in suchproximity to the disk J as to come into electrical contact with saiddisk when said bar is moved by the magnet O. The springs S U, Fig. 7,may also be omitted, and the battery S" be connected by the wires 8 s"to the disks R and T, respectively, which disks should be insulated fromtheir arbors. If this connection of the battery S to the disks R T beadopted, the springs S U may also be omitted, and the pins R T beremoved from the peripheries of the disks, and said pins or theirequivalents be placed upon the adjacent faces of said disks, so thatthey will come in electrical contact once during each revolution of thedisk T, and remain in contact for one second, as will be readilyunderstood. If desired, also, the disks J, R, and T may each be in theform of an arm. the said arms being provided with the pins j, 9', It,and T, respectively, it being not necessary that thesaid parts J R Tshould be circular in form.

The springs p p, instead of being arranged side by side longitudinallywith relation to the armature 1?, may be arranged transversely withrelation to said armature, thependulumrod wiping over them when theycome into the path of movement of the said pendulumrod; or the armaturemay be extended and the springs 19 1) located at the end, so that whenbrought into the path of movement of the pendulum-rod the latter maybear against them, and it is this latter arrangement which we prefer touse.

In another application filed by us November 10, 1884, Serial No.147,568, devices were shown and described whereby the center ofoscillation of a pendulum was raised and lowered by means of a weightsupported by the pendulum, said weight being raised and lowered withrelation to the said pendulum by means controlled from a distance; butsuch devices are not herein claimed.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the pendulum of a clock to be regulated, of ablock, 0, arranged, as described, to slide upon the pendulum, ascrew, D,provided with a wheel for raising and lowering said block, theelectro-magnets E E, having pawls connected to their armaturesforturning the said wheel in opposite directions, a movable bar, 0,suitable means, as described, for moving said bar from a distance, andmechanism, substantially as described, for electrically connecting saidbar with the magnets E or E, if the clock to be regulated be fast orslow a certain amount, as described, whereby the said pendulum is madeto take a gaining or a losing rate relatively to its prior performance,substantially as set forth.

, upon the pendulum, a screw, D, provided with a wheel for raising andlowering said block, the electro-magnets E E", having pawls connected totheir armatures for turning the said wheel in opposite directions, anelectro-magnet, 0, having an armature-bar, O, mechanism, substantiallyas described, for electrically connecting said bar with the magnets Eand E, as described, a master-clock, and mechanism, substantially asdescribed, for automatically electrically connecting said master-clockwith the magnet O at predetermined times, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

3. The combination, with the pendulum of a secondary clock or a clock tobe regulated, of a block, 0, arranged, as described, to slide upon thependulum, a screw, D, provided with a wheel for raising and loweringsaid block, the electro-magnets E E, having pawls connected to theirarmatures for turning the said wheel in opposite directions, anelectro-magnet, 0, having an armature-bar, O, the disk or arm J,arranged, as described, to be rotated by the clock to be regulated,means, substantially as deseribed,-for electrically connecting. the saiddisk or arm to the magnets E E andbar 0, a master-clock, a magnet, P,having its armature-bar furnished with springs p p,

electrically connected with the magnet O, and

adapted to be brought into the path of move-v ment of the master-clockpendulum, as described, the disks or arms R T, arranged to be rotated bythe master-clock, as described,- and suitable means, as described, forelectrically connecting the disks or arms R T with the magnet P atpredetermined times, whereby the 'master'clock may automaticallyregulate the secondary clock, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the pendulum of a clock, of a block adapted tobe raised and lowered thereon, to thereby change the center ofoscillation of the pendulum by increasing or diminishing its vibratinglength, suitable means, substantiallyas described, for raising andlowering said block, suitable mechanism, substantially as described, formoving the said means in opposite directions, suitable means,

substantially as described, for operating from a distance the said meansemployed for raising and lowering the said block, whereby the vibratingrate of the pendulum relatively to its prior performance may be changed,substantially as described.

5. The combination,with a clock-pendulum, of a block adapted to beraised and lowered thereon, to increase and decrease the vibratinglength of thependulum, as described, a screw and wheel for raising andlowering said block,

a pair of pawls for turning the wheel in op-' posite directions, asdescribed, and suitable means, substantially as described, for operatingthe said pawls from a distance, substantially as set forth.

GEO. W. MILLARD.

Witnesses M J, W. DUIQBU (3, WHITE.

JOSEPH H. CLARKE.

